"You're not going to believe this," Lorelai said, planting a kiss on Luke's cheek as she snuck up behind him.
"Did Britney Spears get married again?" he deadpanned.
She rolled her eyes. "Not everything in this world revolves around the crazy psycho pop princess gone bad… so not the point. I'll let Leah tell you herself. Seriously. You won't believe it until you hear it straight from the horse's mouth. Leah!"
Leah bounced into the kitchen, Paul Anka following close behind. "Hi, Daddy," she said sweetly, bending down to pat Paul Anka on the head before sitting down at the table.
"What is it? What is this thing I'm not going to believe that I have to hear from you?" he asked, his tone slightly curious and slightly nervous at the same time. With Leah, the sky was the limit. Or, there really wasn't a limit. Either applied.
Lorelai stifled a giggle and reached for the coffee pot. Luke grabbed the handle and watched as Lorelai's mouth gaped. "No!" she gasped.
He nodded. "What's up, Leah?" he asked, not bothering to look at Leah, but at Lorelai, while he poured Lorelai a cup of coffee.
Lorelai smiled. "Is it decaf?"
"Take what you can get. You're lucky I didn't pour it down the drain, which was my first thought," Luke warned.
She clutched the mug and sat down at the table. "Thank you," she said with a smile. "Okay, now he's listening, sweets, tell him."
"I want to play T-ball," Leah announced, grinning ear to ear.
Luke slid an oven mitt on his hand and stopped before opening the oven. "What did you just say?" he asked.
"I want to play T-ball!" she repeated, sitting on her hands and swinging her legs back and forth while sitting at the table.
"What on Earth gave you that idea?" Luke asked.
Leah sighed. "Well, I was thinking about how much you like baseball, and I said I wanted to play baseball. But Kiki says that girls don't play baseball, but they can play T-ball. So I want to play T-ball, Daddy!"
Luke turned to Lorelai. "Since when is our kid friends with Kirk's kid?"
Lorelai put her hand on her stomach and shrugged. "You're lucky that I don't invite them over for play dates, mister, you keep your mouth shut and keep the coffee coming."
"You want to play T-ball, Leah?" Luke asked.
Leah nodded. "Sign ups are tomorrow at school. Please?"
"You really want to play T-ball?" he confirmed.
She grinned. "More than I want a pony!"
Lorelai giggled. "Well, this one's serious, Daddy, if she wants it more than Suzie Sparkle the blue and pink checkered pony! What's the verdict, Judge Judy?"
Luke pulled the lasagna out of the oven and placed it on the counter. He turned to face Leah and took off the oven mitt, checking to make sure the oven was turned off. "You know that T-ball is like ballet, you have to practice, right?"
She nodded. "I'm going to be so good!"
He sighed, taking the foil off of the pan. "Fine. We'll sign you up tomorrow after school," he said.
Leah squealed. "Thank you, Daddy, thank you!" she screeched, wrapping her arms around his legs.
"Careful, sweets, Daddy doesn't have roots like the tree you hugged does," Lorelai warned.
"She hugged a tree?" Luke repeated, looking to Lorelai for confirmation.
Lorelai shrugged. "She's your kid," she said with a wave of her hand as she sipped the coffee.
"You know when the first game is, kiddo?" Luke asked.
"Saturday morning at 10:00," Leah announced proudly.
Lorelai groaned. "That's practically before sunrise!"
Luke shot Lorelai a look. "We'll be there, Leah, okay?"
She nodded. "I'm going to go practice!" she said, running out the back door and startling Paul Anka with the slam of the door.
"She's really excited about this T-ball thing, isn't she?" Lorelai asked.
Luke nodded. "Seems that way. Wonder what possessed her to do that."
"I don't know, but I think she wants some Daddy-Leah bonding time with this practice thing," she said, motioning toward the door.
Luke opened the cabinet and placed some lasagna on a plate for Lorelai. He brought it over to her, gave her a kiss and rubbed her belly on the way by. "I sensed that," he replied, grabbing his jacket. "We'll be in to eat in a few minutes. She'll get bored soon."
Lorelai nodded. "I'll be here," she said.
He walked outside to find Leah with the plastic yellow wiffle bat and the red tee, swinging and missing every time. He held back a laugh as he watched her stick her tongue out, deep in concentration, and swing and miss so hard that she fell backward. "Okay, I think it's time for a lesson," Luke insisted, kneeling down in the grass beside Leah. "Don't hold the bat so tight, loosen up," he instructed.
She obliged, loosening her grip on the plastic. She turned to Luke. "Watch out, I'm gonna swing," she warned.
Luke put his hands in front of his face just in time as Leah whipped the bat around, the edge touching the palms of his hand. He grabbed Leah by the waist, picked her up, and placed her on the correct side of the plate. "First things first, you're gonna need to know where to stand," he said patiently, giving her a wink.
"Here?" she asked, looking down at her feet.
Luke nodded. "Right there. Now, when you swing, you pull the bat back this far," he said, pulling her arms back gently so she could get a feeling of where to stop. "And then you keep your eye on the ball, move the bat forward, and hit the ball."
Leah jumped up and down. "Okay, got it. Back away. Ready?"
Luke backed up, slightly nervous to watch Leah swing again. He cringed as her bat hit the tee and knocked it over, fearing her reaction. He knew her patience was being tested. "That's okay, that's okay," he said, quickly jumping in and picking the tee up. "Try again," he insisted, putting the white ball on the tee.
Leah stuck her tongue out again, pulling the bat back and swinging again, this time above the tee. She tomahawked the bat in frustration and crossed her arms. "I can't do it," she groaned.
Luke crouched down to Leah's level. "It's okay, we'll try again tomorrow. You're hungry and tired, and I'm thinking tomorrow you'll want to try it again anyway. You're not a quitter."
"But if I can't hit a ball, I can't play in the game on Saturday. If I can't play in the game on Saturday, I can't hit a home run! Then you won't be proud of me!" she reasoned, her blue eyes welling up with tears.
He put his hand on Leah's shoulder. "I'm always proud of you kid, no matter what. What got that idea into your head that I wouldn't be proud of you if you didn't play T-ball?"
"Kiki," Leah said, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
Luke kissed Leah's tear stained cheek. "Let me give you a word of advice. Don't listen to Kiki. She gets everything she knows from Kirk… and Kirk's, well, Kirk."
Leah let out a tiny giggle and looked at Luke. "'Kay," she said, trying to wriggle away.
"I'm not finished with you yet, get back here," Luke teased. "Is this about the baby again?"
Leah shrugged. "Maybe, I don't know."
"You don't know," Luke repeated. "Well, how's this help you? I love you, no matter what you can or can't do. You may not be able to play T-ball, but you're a great reader, a great speller, and you're very nice to other people."
"I don't have anything that's like you though, Daddy! Everyone tells me I'm just like Mommy, and Kiki said that maybe that's why you and Mommy are having another baby, to be like you," Leah admitted.
Luke shook his head. "You are a lot like me," he answered. "You hate seeing people sad. You like fixing people's problems. You try to do whatever you can to make people happy."
"I guess so," Leah said.
He turned Leah to face him. "No matter what, you'll always be my Princess. Okay?"
She nodded. "Okay," she said, planting a kiss on the bridge of his nose. "I'm hungry," she said, wiping away the residual tears.
He pulled himself up off of the ground. "Lasagna's ready," he replied, taking her hand and leading her into the house. "Wash your hands."
Leah went off running and Lorelai jerked her head around to Luke. "Did I see tears?"
He nodded. "Minor issues. We fixed it though," he said, putting more lasagna on Lorelai's plate. "She doesn't have a career in T-ball ahead of her, but she's a happy camper for now."
"So this means I can sleep in on Saturday?" Lorelai asked.
Luke rolled his eyes. "Bit of a stretch, don't you think?"
Lorelai smiled and shoveled a forkful of lasagna in her mouth. "I'm just trying to give Daddy and Princess some time together," she insisted.
"We're going to have plenty of time," Luke said, placing a plate in front of Leah, who emerged from the bathroom. "Right?" he asked with a wink.
"Right," Leah replied, digging into the lasagna.